Myanmar detention: Son confirms five years of isolation

Aung San Suu Kyi remains in near-total isolation in Naypyidaw, her son confirmed on Sunday after a rare phone conversation.

Kim Aris, the 81-year-old former leader's son, said he spoke with her on Thursday at the Myanmar embassy in London. It was their first contact in more than five years. Aris described his mother as mentally sharp and physically strong, noting that she still sounds all there. He believes she is held in a fenced-off residence with scrubby land around it, surrounded only by military or police personnel. He characterized the arrangement as solitary confinement.

The timeline of Suu Kyi's detention began with a military coup in 2021. She was deposed from her role as state counsellor and moved to an unspecified location in the capital. Since then, she has been held on what Aris called politically motivated charges. The military junta has maintained control over communications, allowing family contact only when it served diplomatic goals. Aris viewed the recent invitation to call as part of a public relations campaign by the country's military leaders.

Former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has sought to rebuild international ties in recent months. In April, he changed from military fatigues to civilian clothes following elections that many observers condemned as a sham. The regime has recently released images of Suu Kyi to demonstrate her well-being. Last week, a government spokesperson shared photos of her smiling in a wood-paneled room while officials handed her two gardening books gifted by King Charles. A calendar on the wall in the photo displayed the current date. Aris noted that such staged appearances are familiar tactics used by the regime to suggest fair treatment.

Aris stated that his mother is cut off from the outside world. She does not receive newspapers, radio, or television. He described the situation as a five-year lockup based on trumped-up charges. Suu Kyi has spent much of her life since the late 1980s in and out of house arrest for leading pro-democracy movements. Her international standing was tested after the 2016 and 2017 expulsions of Rohingya Muslims, during which she defended the government against genocide charges at the International Court of Justice.

Aris pushed back on the narrative that his mother was silent on the Rohingya crisis. He said her statements on the issue could fill volumes and noted that Myanmar began a domestic inquiry and appointed former UN chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission under her leadership. He described her position as state counsellor as a tightrope walk, aware that the military could remove her power at any time. The army worked to undermine her position before the 2021 takeover.

The 2021 takeover sparked a civil war that conflict monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people. Aris said global support for his mother has dwindled since the Rohingya crisis, leaving the country with a lack of international attention. He argued that the current neglect of Burma should not be attributed to the past handling of the Rohingya situation.

The next step in the diplomatic and political process remains tied to the junta's efforts to legitimize its rule. The military continues to manage the narrative around Suu Kyi's detention, using visual proof of her presence to counter calls for her release.